Surgical gowns and drapes are routinely used in surgical, obstetrical and like procedures. Such drapes at least partially cover the patient and have a surgical access opening or fenestration located generally in a central portion of the drape which exposes only that part of the anatomy on which the procedure is being performed. The surgical drape provides protection from contamination to the surgical area and also protects the personnel involved in the surgical procedure.
Although surgical drapes have in the past been made from cloth, such as linen, muslin and other similar woven fabrics, their initial cost and the subsequent costs associated with their laundering and the difficulties concomitant with laundering and sterilization have resulted in a trend toward replacment with disposable-type drapes. It also has been recognized that nonwoven, particularly fluid-repellent materials, afford the best protection from strike-through and potential contamination which results therefrom.
In U.S. Pat. No. 3,668,050 there is described an improved disposable surgical drape which combines a fibrous sheet having a primary operative area, a fluid-impervious flexible plastic layer laminated to the base sheet in the primary operative area, and a sheet of fluid-absorbent flexible plastic foam material on the outer surface of the film. Although such a drape is suitable for many surgical applications, particularly laparotomies, it is preferred in other types of procedures to employ a drape with specific properties required by that procedure. Thus, in those procedures in which large volumes of bodily fluids are generated, provisions for draining or absorbing excess fluids are required. In some instances, it is desirable to provide a drape with a fenestration of a particular configuration which conforms to a portion of the anatomy being operated upon. In some procedures it is also desirable to provide a means for adhering the surgical drape in the region of the fenestration to the patient in order to prevent movement of the drape during the operation or flow of bodily fluids from between the surgical drape and the patient. Thus, a surgical drape suitable for one application will not necessarily be suitable for other surgical or related applications. To be effective in a particular procedure, the drape should be of such structure and material to overcome each difficulty which arises.